I'm a life long fan of Joni. I broke up with my fiancee over his inability to appreciate her. He has apologized 45 years later. Not only that, he became friends with her through Joni's friend Harry Dean Stanton. He and Harry had a band and would play in small clubs around LA. He spent time at her house more than once. She even sat in with their band one night. I'm glad he finally "got" her. I'm a bit jealous, but happy for him. I own one of the signed and numbered lithographs of the cover of Turbulent Indigo. It's the first piece of art you see upon entering my home. I wonder if he told her about me? I'm also a Scorpio and I naturally feel so many of the things that she does. It's a burden at times when I can look at someone and know what they're really thinking. I've been told people can tell. If I could have one hundredth of her talent that would be enough for me. My late husband did. The first time he came over to give me a guitar lesson, I told him I love Joni. He proceeded to retune his guitar and played Cold Blue Steel perfectly. We were together for 28 years. Sadly he died this past June. Joni has helped me get through this difficult time.
How amazing she is being taught about. She takes her place in literary and musical history. In a world drowning in pop music culture...very few we can count as artists....and of the few even fewer can be counted as on such a profound or prolific level. Joni is a 'lesson in survival' for the ages. Her music was never about hits or the average listener. Yet, she ends up a legend.
This is why we need music...this world is shattered. Thank you for such an insightful presentation. I am a life long Joni fan and don’t know what I will do when she moves on! She is genius, painter first, and then painting with her wo songs 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Incredible Joni! An extremely talented & unique woman of "heart & mind". A Toronto fan at 16 in '66. Regularly listen to Joni's emotional lyrics & melodies which continue to make a difference and add to my life. Thank you, David, for your well-titled book Reckless Daughter and informative presentation.
Love your insightful presentation. i remember discussing Little Green with friends and was shocked that people did not see that it was about a child she bore and gave up for adoption. I imagine there might be more of us fans that could hear what she was saying. She paints with words, yes. Can we hear the painting? When Chinese Cafe came out, I called one of my close friends who debated the meaning of Little Green with me. He admitted that yes, it was not just a metaphor. Thanks for posting.
Finished the book last month. Discovered quite a few things previously unknown. And I enjoyed the writing style. She's be a tough person to live with that's for sure. But since that wasn't/isn't happening, I can just relax and enjoy her artistry. For me, her period following Blue has always been a favorite - Court & Spark, Hissing, and Hejira. I also believe that Mitchell and Kate Bush have been two of the most influential singer/songwriter/producer artists since the 1960s.
It's the music, stupid! "..... if you listen to (my) music and you see me ..... you're not getting anything out of it. (But) if you listen to that music and you see yourself, it'll probably make you cry, and you'll learn something about yourself, and now you're getting something out of it." From a Joni Mitchell interview, 2003. About covers who and what Joni Mitchell is all about in just 3 sentences.
I became a Joni Mitchell Follower in 1969 as A Senior in High School ...... I bought all her Vinyl albums And have them still .... My Freshman year at Adelphi University was totally Transcendental due to Joni Laura Nero , Crosby Stills Nash ( And Young ) Dylan , Elton John Cat Steven's , The Incredible String Band , Jefferson Airplane , Procal Harum ( sp ) James Taylor Carol King ... and the song ; White Rabbit ... I majored in the Performing Arts ( Dance & Theater ) 1969 until 1970 at Adelphi University 1972 & 1973 at The Juilliard School In the Dance Department Unforgettable Moments in Music And Dance and Theater Went on to Dance in a Dance Theater Company in Paris France Called " Le Groupe de Recherche Theatrale de L'Opera de Paris " Just watched an INTERVIEW with Joni Mitchell ... Astounding What a great mind ... soul ... & A painter who lives in a box of paints
my family surname is also Amberson and all of my relatives are of English or Scotch-Irish descent. Over past generations, some of them, specifically the ones in the U.S., had changed their names from Amberson to Anderson, Amerson and even Ambrose, although many have retained Amberson, especially those still living in Scotland and in Canada. my father's late aunt was a genealogist and kept impeccable records.
Half way through the book...with deep sophisticated insight now you see he can play and he can sing and he can fall in love with Jon ! A must-read book: Reckless Daughter by David Yaffe!
Very insightful and honest take on Joni's personality. Love her as and artist/musician but you can see how her ambition to be great and original and timeless (which she realized) affects the way she deals with the people around her. The Judy Collins story is tough and I feel bad for her. True originals have very high demands for themselves and others, I guess.
@@JossWainwright Although it's stated in this video that Taylor played in standard tuning you can ask Rick Beateo. He has an incredible channel on RU-vid. He loves Joni and has interviewed her as well as done analysis on many of her songs. You can PM him he may respond. Even if he doesn't it's a great channel.
There is not one scandinavian spelling of surnames: -son is swedish and -sen is danish/norwegian. When the immigrants came to Ellis Island, names where often put down as whatever the official thought they heard, and since swedes were in majority, -sen was often changed to -son. That aside, Joni’s paternal grandparents were most definitely Andersen and came from Norway. Not Amberson.
I think she did care if people liked her, like most , when she was young, but as maturity and wisdom comes, it is rapidly , unessesary to care, at all 😊
Joni is up there with the best of them artistically. She's probably the most original in purely musical terms, but she has nothing to gain by having a giant chip on her shoulder. Relax Joni, I understand and I love you.
It was fortuitous that she encouraged the music side of her artist personality because that is where her genius is, not the painting. But I think the painting is part of her artist equation. It is a synergy. I remember seeing her at the Berkeley Community Center where she had two guitars on stage besides the one she was playing. On occasion she'd retune her guitar or trade it for one tuned differently. Crosby, Stills and Nash came onstage at the end and sang "Circle Game. A few years later She came onstage in Sacramento in her Court and Spark period and was a completely different persona! We were shocked! But she still sang some earlier songs and they were very powerful. A marvelously altered Both Sides Now. Before she sang it she said, "now I'd like to sing Judy's hit"...
He’s too gossipy,in my opinion. I particularly took issue with his description of Joni’s daughter. If she listens to this, it won’t be good for Joni and her. He takes too much license for knowing so much about the family.
What a load of BS. I do not know where he gets his information but it does not jive with any interview or documentary (especially watch 'Joni Mitchell A Life Story: Woman of Heart and Mind') I have ever seen. I had to stop watching when he start the BS about her alternate tunings and wearing mini shirts (I have never seen a picture of Joni in a mini skirt). First to be correct, she plays a dulcimer on the song you "All I Want" (and several other songs on the album). Here tunings did not come from her having polio, according to interviews I have seen from her! They were her search for her own voice on guitar to match the emotions of the song. Some of her fingering/chords in her alternate tunings are more difficult than any chord in standard tuning.If the polio effected her guitar why is she such an amazing pianist? Blue was after her Romance With Graham Nash and break up. On top of all of this presentation is disjointed as if he has no idea what he wants to say or do.
Actually Joni was very interested in glamour. She always wore false eyelashes in her early days. In the documentary Woman Of Heart And Mind there's a shot of her performing at The Purple Onion in N.Y. City. She's wearing a mini skirt. It's not as short as skirts became but it definitely qualified as one at the time. You'll also notice she always wore jewelry. She even sang about her silver in Cary. As She aged she piled necklaces on. Joni always was a natural beauty but she still played around with her look.
In addition I just received my copy of his book. There are 2 photos of Joni wearing mini skirts. The one of her with Lenard Cohen is a micro mini. It's not much longer than a shirt. The other isn't as short but it's definitely a mini skirt.
Joni peaked like most geniuses in her early twenties all the rest I put up with because she was that good she would be an unknown with the music after her peak. The smoking killed her voice in her twenties.
Wrong. She evolved and her voice deepened. I doubt she has peeked yet. As an artist you are or at least should be always changing and pushing artistic/ musical boundaries. It’s called growth, sorry some couldn’t or wouldn’t grow with her. ‘We didn’t live in the time of Beethoven, Shakespeare or Rembrandt, but we are living in the time of Joni Mitchell’. Genius on a COMPLETELY different level is what you’re looking at, pure and simple. No one ‘puts up with’ Joni, you either get it or you don’t. Society’s love affair with mediocrity is what she’s never played into and blessed be she hasn’t.
